Tibetan dies after setting herself on fire

A Tibetan taxi driver has set herself on fire and died in the latest of dozens of protests against Chinese rule over the Himalayan region, overseas rights groups said.

Chagmo Kyi, a mother of two, self-immolated on Saturday afternoon in a square in Tongren county in western China’s Qinghai province, the eighth self-immolation in the Tongren area since 4 November, the Campaign for Tibet said.

Tibet support groups overseas say an increase in protests the past two weeks was meant to highlight Tibetans’ unhappiness with Chinese rule as the country’s leaders handed over power to younger successors at a Communist Party congress in Beijing.

Tibetan delegates attending the congress told reporters they believed much of the blame for the spate of self-immolations fell on the Dalai Lama, Tibetans’ spiritual leader, and his associates, whom they said were instigating the protests.

The Dalai Lama and representatives of the self-declared Tibetan government-in-exile in India say they oppose all violence.

Independent verification of events and conditions in Tibet is nearly impossible because of restrictions on travel.